STATE OF THE (CIVIL) UNION

Any resemblance to a wedding reception was purely
coincidental for the ceremonial signing of the civil
union bill into law.

So insisted Lisa Goodman, the lawyer who helped to
forge this milestone as the president for all of the
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their
friends at Equality Delaware.

But really. There was a champagne toast and dessert
tables with those festive chocolate-dipped strawberries
and plenty of clergy roaming around to get couples in
the mood and the Rainbow Chorale of Delaware singing in
formal attire and pictures being taken and so much
happiness.

Goodman herself could not resist calling the ceremony
a "joyous occasion." About the only other words she
could have used to be more evocative of a wedding would
be "dearly beloved."

And whose whimsical sense of humor decided that a
bill signing for gay people should be at a place called
The Queen?

It happened Wednesday evening in Wilmington at the
World Cafe Live at The Queen, the once-discarded Market
Street theatre given new life, just like a lot of the
crowd that came out to watch.

Something like 600 people thronged inside, somehow
lending intimacy to a space as cavernous as a cathedral.
They were so excited.

They cheered everything! They cheered when Goodman
said they were going to get started! They cheered when
she introduced Jack Markell, the Democratic governor who
was going to sign the bill! They cheered Matt Denn, the
Democratic lieutenant governor! They even cheered
legislators!

Has there ever been a bill signing ceremony like this
one?

"There never has," said Bob Gilligan, the Democratic
speaker who is the longest-serving legislator in state
history. He is at 39 years and counting.

Not that this new law solves everything. The safe
haven it offers does not extend beyond the boundaries of
Delaware.

There are roughly 1,100 federal benefits denied to
partners in civil unions by the count of the Human
Rights Campaign, a gay advocacy group based in
Washington. A lot of the benefits have to do with taxes,
like no joint filing, and partners do not have access to
the other's Social Security benefits.

This was not a day for worrying about that, however.
This was a day for marveling that in Legislative Hall in
Dover -- that palace of vanity and voracity where the
unofficial slogan is "where's mine?" -- 13 out of 21
state senators and 26 out of 41 state representatives
found their inner white knight and voted for civil
unions.

"This is like the best bill I ever voted for. Because
it was something that was long overdue, and with the
people in the building -- the emotions -- it was a proud
moment," said Valerie Longhurst, the Democratic majority
whip in the House of Representatives.

"It was the only time I ever cried on the House
floor."

So this is the way history is made. Markell sensed it
as he signed his way into it.

"Your family is now equal under the law," he said.

Markell had backed gay rights when he ran for
treasurer in 1998 and committed to a civil union bill
when he ran for governor in 2008. He hugged his wife
Carla. He held up the new law to jubilant cheers, then
thrust it as high as he could, a declaration of equality
in the course of human events.

It brought on the champagne toast, not to mention an
ironic thought about that old wedding day wisecrack,
"Just legal."

There are plenty of indications that civil unions are
easily going mainstream. For example, there was a
mischievous verse or two about them Saturday at the
First State Gridiron Dinner & Show, a showpiece
political roast attended by Delaware's uppermost
political, legal and corporate circles.

The Gridiron Players sang to the tune of "Do You Hear
the People Sing" from "Les Miserables":